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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524992">Matched</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sour_apples/pseuds/sour_apples'>sour_apples</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Brave (2012), Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, This Is STUPID, demiromantic characters, jack also just as repressed but hes oblivious to said repression, romantically repressed merida comin in clutch, the big four</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:20:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,572</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sour_apples/pseuds/sour_apples</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“A neutral party that has turned down every single option. Seriously, they don’t seem all bad,” He says this, but it’s not actually that big of a deal. Jack doubted he would have agreed to dates with any of them to begin with. It had just kind of been fun to make a game out of it with Merida at his side, who had been curious the moment she saw the interface of the thing.  Plus, even as an admitted Merida Un-expert, Jack was moderately sure she only bothered in the first place precisely because it was a worthwhile diversion from schoolwork. But he isn't studying the little frown on her face the same way Rapunzel is.</p><p>Or, Jack is kind of dense.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hiccup Haddock III &amp; Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) &amp; Merida (Disney) &amp; Rapunzel (Disney), Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)/Merida (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Matched</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>its 2021 and i have come back to the middle school comfort Thing. all i've gotta say is rotbtd was a stupid ass crossover name,,, who put 2012 tumblr kids in charge of crossover names.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   Merida chortles, slapping her hand on his shoulder just hard enough to sting. “He’s way too young for you, he could be your baby brother.”</p><p>  Jack swipes and holds up his phone a little more upright. A selfie of a bleach-blonde woman sits in front of them, eyes impossibly blue and hair braided up intricately around her shoulders. The rest of her profile photos all involve another redheaded girl with the same eyes and nose as her and one out-of-place photo of a very, very ugly snowman. Merida cocks an eyebrow.  </p><p>     “She likes winter,” Jack said hopefully, finally scanning through her written bio. It was one factoid in a sea of descriptors that stood out to him, but plenty of people liked winter. Merida shook her head but the action was slowed by the fact that she was resting her face in the crook of Jack’s shoulder. He was pretty sure the casual cuddling was typical for her and all of Merida’s friends, but her breath on his neck still made Jack break out in goosebumps. </p><p>    “But she’s much too <em> mature  </em>for yew. Looks like she’s already got her bachelor's. A smart, well-put-together lass. Don’t think yew’d have much in common.” Rapunzel and Hiccup snicker at the foot of the bed but don’t look up from their textbooks. Jack’s tempted to kick at least one of their backpacks off of his sheets, out of spite. Hiccup would probably freak out about Jack's bare feet touching his precious materials. </p><p>    “Okay, rude.” Jack scoffs. But it’s not like he hadn’t been thinking much the same thing or that he'd even been particularly interested. So he banishes the woman’s profile for what must have been the fortieth profile in a row since he’d fallen back on his bed. <em> At first </em>, it had just been him alone, minding his own business in his room. Bare minimum of homework finished for the day but too stubborn to get more done, he was bored out of his mind. Eventually, he got around to some mindless scrolling on his phone. When Jack had opened the dating app it wasn’t with much intention at all.</p><p>   But then there was the telltale sound of three pairs of footsteps running through the house and Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Merida had barged in without warning. Emma, the traitor, probably hadn’t warned him because Rapunzel had a habit of bribing his little sister with baked goods. Moreover, he’d completely forgotten about their plans for group study at his house. So by all accounts, they technically had the right to be there. And Jack didn’t actually have the heart to shoo his best friends off, he never did.</p><p>  Merida, after throwing her entire book bag at him, had caught the screen on his phone before he’d put it away. Then they’d <em> both  </em>completely forgotten their plans of studying and hard work, although Jack was fairly certain Merida wasn’t caught up like he was. Rapunzel had made a valiant effort to get them to at least open their Chromebooks, but Merida was incredibly talented in the ways of avoiding her responsibilities, and Hiccup was supportively apathetic. Which explained why Merida DunBroch was currently ‘helping’ Jack sort through possible dates on a dumb little match-maker app. </p><p>  The forty-first profile stared back at them for a moment before Jack’s brain caught up with him and he immediately swiped left. But not fast enough. </p><p>    “Was that Tooth?” Merida asked. Jack didn’t have to look down at her face to know she was smirking like a bastard. She burst out into a cackle, shoulders shaking with the effort.</p><p>    “Oh my god.” He groans. “Don’t.”</p><p>    “Tooth?” Rapunzel barely hid her giggles behind her hands. Jack glares at the purple paint coating her nails instead of Rapunzel's face, fearing his own embarrassment would shine through and betray him. She points an accusatory pencil at him. “What’s your god aunt doing on the same dating site as you?” </p><p>   “Don’t know, don’t want to know!” </p><p>   “Is a god aunt actually a thing?” Hiccup muttered between his calculations for variance and standard deviation. He’s subtler than their other best friends, but Jack can still see the little self-satisfied smirk on his face. “Like, officially?” </p><p>   “I hate all of you,” Jack huffed. He again considers kicking their stuff off the bed but easing up off the frame would require Merida to back off and he didn’t know if she’d slide back onto his shoulder once he’d finished terrorizing their friends. He wasn’t above admitting he liked her where she was. Maybe. He taps his phone out of stasis so he doesn’t have to think too hard about it. “Okay, what about him?” </p><p>   “Tulio?” Merida read aloud. “<em> Och. </em>Jack, look at his goatee. No.” </p><p>   “Darn. Love me a man with asshole facial hair,” Jack snapped his fingers.</p><p> Hiccup looked up, panic on his face. “Do I have asshole facial hair?” </p><p>   “You have facial hair?” Merida pretended to inspect her nails, which she only ever cared to inspect when she was making a sly comment. Rapunzel had theorized it was a habit she’d picked up from her mother, but if any of them pointed out they’d probably be smacked over the head. Still, it sent Jack and Rapunzel both snickering every time they saw it </p><p>   “Har, har. Laugh it up DunBroch. But it’s coming in. Eventually.” Hiccup scratched his face absentmindedly and cast his eyes back down to his graphing calculator. Jack sends him one single sardonic grin before turning his attention back to the app.</p><p>   This next girl had a hard Russian last name he probably couldn’t pronounce and wore a dark moss-green bomber jacket in her first picture. Her bio was sparse, save for a single little line of text that read “Men are babies.” </p><p> Surely this was the one person Merida could get behind. Jack waited a picosecond, and Merida’s judgment came down swiftly. “She looks too stubborn.” </p><p>   “She <em> looks </em>...stubborn?” Jack asked. Anastasia, that was her first name, had bright blue eyes and reddish auburn-ish hair. It wasn’t nearly as untamable or as bright as Merida’s, but there was enough comparison to be made that Jack wondered if Merida at all recognized the irony. As if she could pick up on his mental ribbing, Merida nestled further into his shoulder and huffed. The curls immediately in front of her face blew upwards then fell back down uselessly. </p><p>  “That’s what I think. You asked for my two cents, I gave them.” He wanted to point out that he really hadn’t, but it wasn’t like he had stopped her from sharing at any point in time so he let the thought go. </p><p>   “Geez, Red. Are any of them gonna be up to par for me? In your eyes?” He would have recognized it as a dangerous question if he was not as dense as a brick. Whereas everyone else was sympathetically ignoring the giant elephant in the room labeled ‘Merida’s repressed feelings for Jack Overland-Frost,’ Jack was legitimately blind to it.  </p><p>  “I dinnea. It’s yer love-lyfe.” She said through almost gritted teeth, feigning nonchalance.  </p><p>  “Pretty invested in my love life.” Hiccup and Rapunzel shared frantic looks, not knowing if or how they should interrupt. Jack paid them no mind as he chuckled to himself. </p><p>  “I'm a neutral party.” Merida’s voice was suspiciously level, but Jack supposed it was sarcasm.</p><p>  “A neutral party that has turned down every single option. Seriously, they don’t seem all bad,” He says this, but it’s not actually that big of a deal. Jack doubted he would have agreed to dates with any of them to begin with. It had just kind of been fun to make a game out of it with Merida at his side, who had been curious the moment she saw the interface of the thing. Plus, even as an admitted Merida Un-expert, Jack was moderately sure she only bothered in the first place precisely because it was a worthwhile diversion from schoolwork. But he isn't studying the little frown on her face the same way Rapunzel is.</p><p>   “Yes, they do. Yer a good lad, Jack. Yew should find someone you connect with. Don’t be wasting yer time on nobodies yewl forget in two years time.” Jack hummed at that. He’d figured she’d be the most objective person with this since she never seemed all that interested in the realm of romance, but maybe he was wrong. Although, then again,  maybe it was objective advice. </p><p>  “The way you say it, I should probably just date you then, huh?” Jack grinned, aiming for teasing, but he then knew from the way that everyone immediately stilled it had been the wrong thing to say.</p><p>  “What?” Jack asks. Merida pulled away like he was freezing, lips pulled into a thin line. Without a word, she slung her backpack over her shoulders and bolted up off of the bed. In another second she was up and out of the door, too quickly for Jack to search for the flurry of expressions on her face. At least a minute passed before the silence broke. </p><p>   “Seriously, Jack?” Rapunzel groaned. Hiccup was still looking at the door like a demon had just crawled out of it. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to, because Hiccup had a distinct grimace for nearly every occasion. </p><p>     “Hey!” Jack cringed, already figuring he half-knew what the issue was when he flushed to his ears. “What did <em>I</em> do?” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>soooooooo.....I wrote all of this in one go a couple days back as a procrastination tactic, and then all my editing has also been a procrastination tactic. Not quite sure if this makes sense, but I'm too embarrassed to actually get a beta for my crackship disney/dreamworks modern au bullshit.<br/>Any criticisms or comments would be greatly appreciated!<br/>and! let me know if my characterization of merida here reads as 'im capable of these feelings and i certainly have them but if anyone points them out it feels like theyre making fun of me and/or trying to undermine me' or not. im demi and projecting my like. 2018 self onto her bc merida is my absolute fave, even if im more similar to jack in the long run.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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